The Day After
by ReneeSpector
Summary: This is now officially a changed story, ClairexLayton, includes time traveling and soooo much pain in going through hershels life and how many times he got hurt on what Claire thought to be on her part. R
1. Chapter 1

**THE DAY AFTER**

**What happened the day after the explosion? When Layton tried to find out more...**

* * *

**CHAPTER 1**

He had to find out more! He wouldn't let her death be a lowly happening in his life, he couldn't let her go, at least not from memory...

Professor Hershel Layton sat in the library of the university, looking at the newspaper articles of the explosion he had gathered together. They didn't add up! He had traveled to all four corners of London to gather the newspapers, all telling the tale of the explosion that took so many lives, including hers, Claire's.

He never wanted her to go to the experimentation, but she did, and a fat load of good that did her! The man shook his head clear of the hurtful thoughts turning his attention back to the many newspapers strewn about the table, again-none of them added up! They didn't tell the** real **story, about Dimitri Allen, and Bill, Bill was the one that had caused all of this! He remembered his talk with Claire just two days ago, the two days he so wanted to take back, but what was done was done, and there was nothing he could do about it...

Bill Hawks, he had caused all this, he had taken Claire away from him. Hershel picked up a newspaper with Bill Hawks name imprinted in big letters right across the top, in anger the man crumpled the newspaper, throwing it into a nearby trash can.

"SSHHH!"

The librarian spat, causing the professor to jump in surprise, he had forgotten he wasn't in his office.

"Sorry."

He whispered back, his face turning a small shade of pink with embarrassment, the women nodded and turned around to answer some question a student had.

With a sigh, Layton turned back around to face the papers, none of them had the same story, one said it was a chemically related accident where a new scientist had accidentally mixed the wrong chemicals together, another said a non-supporter of the lab had snuck in and set off a bomb which devastated the area, all were lies! And he was going to get to the bottom of it.

The professor picked the newspapers up, folded them into one neat square, and tucked them into his bag, he replaced the books he took, all except for one which he checked out at the front desk and quickly stepped out, not noticing the man that walked into the library right after him.

The mysterious stranger stepped into the library, nobody noticed who he really was, with the mask and all.

He walked over to the front desk, looking into the desk woman's eyes as she looked up, he could read her from there, she had a hard personality, one tat didn't like noise at all yet had sharp ears, he could tell from how big her ears were, they abnormal, yet they were covered by her silver hair, but a person with sharp eyes like his could see them easily.

"Who was that man that just ran out of here?"

He asked, disguising his voice the best he could.

"Ah, that was Hershel Layton, he's a professor here at the university, by the way... HE RAN IN MY LIBRARY! As soon as I see that man next..."

Her ranting came to close as she remembered she had a visitor in front of her, she looked back up at the man and smiled sweetly.

"Sorry about that, I'm very sensitive about my library."

The man smiled back weakly.

"I can see that. Where is the professors office, I need to speak with him."

The lady then had a puzzled look on her face, scratching her head at the question.

" All of the staff would have gone home by now, if you would tell me your name, I could Professor

Layton that you visited."

The women then quickly grabbed a pencil and some paper, staring back at the man intently.

"Bob Marvin."

He answered her question.

"tell him I'd like to meet with him soon."

He waited as the women in front of him jotted down his words, she looked back up at him, saying.

"I'll leave this on his door, anything else you need?"

"No. Thank you for your services ma'am."

The mysterious man turned on his heel and walked out the door, leaving a puzzled librarian behind him.

Out of sight he smiled behind his disguise, walking through the streets of northern London.

"No word of my failure will get out even, if it means wiping another face from this planet."

The man then laughed, a horrible, long, evil laugh that echoed through the night, not excepting its sweet embrace.


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you for the review/s, and yes, Bob Marvin is a pretty ridiculous name, but hey! It just popped into mind and I decided not to ignore it! Figure out the mystery of Bob Marvin, is that really his name, or is he really known as another..._*strange alien/horror movie music*_

**CHAPTER 2**

Professor Layton sat at his desk, puzzling over the few details of the incident he had found, his hand occasionally mindlessly, and idly lifting up to touch the brim of his hat, turning on his head, tipping it ever so slightly than righting it again. The feel of the rough cotton against his skin, calmed him down when he seemed about to throw the documents out the window in his saved, slowly lowering anger, stress wreaked his face, he had been up for three straight days now, the university had given him a week off to calm down and hopefully start being able to cope with the world again, they knew how much Claire had meant to him.

How many times had he double, triple, even, checked these documents? read over the newspapers? visited the site? only to be driven to tears each time.

On the day of the explosion he had met a small boy, he had been searching for his parents, crying for them, he had been trying to fight his way through the crowd, Layton had been front of them all, standing still and watching the unmerciful flames dance cruelly, he had been in the way of the boy trying to break through. The young man had never told Layton his name, he had run straight into the man, causing him to awake from his trance in time to catch the boy by the shoulder and pull him close to keep him still, so as to avoid another soul being devoured by the flames.

"_I need to go back! My parents are still inside!"_

"_Pull yourself together boy! There's nothing to be done. Jump back in there, and you'll die too!"_

"_No! No-oooo!"_

_ The boy gasped between horrendous sobs, clawing at the professors shirt, his tears staining the orange material, trying to get past the only obstacle that stood in his way, only to end up being pulled even closer to the professor in a tight it'll-be-the-death-of-you-if-you-don't-stay-put hug, being wielded unable to move from his spot, the boy stopped his fighting and accepted his position, his parents were gone._

The professor could still remember the boys face as he looked up at the man in the top-hat. Fear had the upper hand in the young mans emotions, tears stained his face, and though his hat covered his eyes, the professor could still feel the confusion and pain held deep within them.

Layton was tired, he had just noticed in-fact, after his small flashback. He wished he knew what he would do with his life now that Claire was gone, would he throw it throw it on the rack? Or would he soon find some comfort in life to sustain his feelings? He didn't know, the only thing that stood out in his mind at the moment was failure, he couldn't find out hat had happened to Claire.

Life was one, great puzzle.

Wasn't it?

'Bob Marvin,' the man thought, chuckling to himself while sitting in a plush, living room wing-chair, 'yeah right.' his chuckling subsided, only to be replaced with a horribly disgusting, absolutely infuriating laugh, one that would annoy just any one, but it would also put a chill down their spine.

His feet were balanced on a small, wooden chair, and in his hands he held a book about the many disguises, wondering who he should pose for next, maybe someone close to his target. That Don Paolo man, he had heard, was the best replacement for any one person in the world, he too had a bone to pick the man named, hmm...

Hershey May-ton? No, no, it was something else, he was sure of it, the man leaned over, taking his feet off the chair, balancing his head on his hand rubbing his chin. Ahh, yes, a virtual light bulb appeared over the mans head and he launched himself back into the plush of the chair, balancing his feet on he chair once again.

Professor **Hershel Layton**, the man that hadn't a clue.

This thought occurring, the mysterious mans diabolical laughter started again, increasing in volume every second, echoing throughout the house, bouncing off the walls.

No word would get out about his mistakes, this professor simply knew too much, even though he didn't know it himself, this man was another set back to the mysterious mans life, another mistake on paper, and he had no problem erasing mistakes.


	3. Chapter 3

Bob Marvin isn't who he seems and the person in question, Don Paolo, turns out not to be the person behind it all, whoooo iiisss iiittt, _*Ghostly tune, whee WHEE wooo...* _Pfff... jokin', n'joy it! By the way, if anyone's _puzzled _by the professor being at the library then suddenly it turns out he's been given the week off by the university, they gave him the week off the day after the library, umm... _fiasco_. Here's a puzzle to try: _15 picarats, a man is given the day off for the week and returns the next day _Can you solve it, sorry if it's a little short, I'll give the answer at the end of the chapter.

**CHAPTER 3**

since he was given the week off, he really had nothing to do, so really, he was just sitting in a chair at his desk staring out the window at the people passing by. Even though it wasn't very "gentle-men-like", he was tipping his chair back with one foot on the desk, the other balancing on the rungs of the chair.

"I solved every puzzle in the book, graded all of the papers, sorted all the documents, and even cleaned my office, it's only 12:00!

He muttered to himself, staring bored out the window. A sudden knock on the door surprised him, and the chair went cascading down with him still in it, making a horrible crashing sound that reached the ears of the person outside the door.

"Layton? Are you there, my good man?"

A dizzy professor got up slowly and walked drunkenly toward the door, shaking his head loose before opening it.

"Ah, there you are, my boy. I just wanted to tell you that the librarian at the school informed me that a man was there to see you, Bob Marvin, I believe it was, anyway, since you won't be back at the school for at least a few more days, I thought I would take it upon myself to tell you."

After his long speech , the owner of the university, Timothy Ryan, stood waiting for the kind professor to answer.

"Thank you, Professor Ryan, I will be sure to check in with this... Bob Marvin? Yes? Alright thank you kindly sir, now I must be getting back to..."

He was about to lie about grading papers even if it wasn't the "gentle-manly" thing to do, but he was interrupted by the other professor.

"Ah, yes, urr... Layton, but, by the way, there was something I forgot to tell you, Bob wanted to meet with you at 6 the day you get back, that won't be a problem, will it Mr. Layton?"

"No, sir."

"Good then, I...urm... Mr. Marvin, will see you then."

After brief farewells, the professor stepped back into his flat and closed the door. Thinking about the meeting that had just taken place, 'now why would Professor Ryan come and deliver that message to me?' only then to whisk it away and turn his thoughts elsewhere,

The old professor walked down the hall with jolly smile on his face saying hello and good-day to the people he passed, once out of the building he turned onto a street called "better" and there is where that joyous smile turned into one of absolute criminal vigilance.

"My, that was much too easy,"

The man muttered to himself.

"Everything is going according to plan, see you then, Hershel Layton."

Just as the professor was sitting down I his chair and "Mr. Ryan" was rubbing his hands together thinking of the next gruesome step of his plan, a women appeared on Elms street just south of them, literally falling from the sky! She fell and landed in front of the debris made by the lab incident that happened not a week earlier, an incident that she was all to familiar with.

When she landed, her first act was to look up at her surroundings, still, she was surprised she even had any surroundings, after what had happened...

_Flashback_

"_Are you ready to start the procedure, my dear?" _

_Dimitri Allen, a fellow scientist of hers, asked._

"_Stop calling me that, Dimitri, I already have a boyfriend and you know it."_

_Was her reply,she had finished the sentence with a wink._

"_Yes, I am very aware of your involvement with Hershel Layton, but you didn't answer my question, are you ready?"_

_It took her a moment to think of her answer, after a few seconds of thinking, she said her answer._

"_Yes."_

…

_ The hot metal of the machine surrounded her and the way out was welded shut from the ferocious heat._

"_God, please, help me." _

_ Those were her last words, but her last thoughts were,'Forgive me, Hershel.' then everything went black as the metal walls finally lost their hold._

_ End of Flashback_

Hadn't she... died? Why was she still alive, and how could she have survived that fateful blast, the leftover scrap, insulation, wood, brick, etc was right in front of her to prove it, unless she really had... No, she couldn't possibly have... Time traveled?


End file.
